This afternoon, the CPSU NSW lodged another notice with Serco for protected action, this time advising of a one-hour stoppage to be held this coming Friday (23 September 2022) at 12:00pm. For those members on site, we will be meeting at mess and talking through our industrial strategy for the next 30 days. The one-hour stoppage is not a paid time work, unfortunately, but we will make sure that everyone is back on post before the hour is up to ensure that nobody is financially disadvantaged beyond the one hour. It is very important you come to this meeting, so if you’re on-site please make sure you attend.
We have also put together an action calendar for your information. You will receive a calendar from us every week with those actions planned for the remainder of that week, so please make sure that you keep an eye out for the weekly calendar, and that you check each day to see what actions are being taken. It is important that you take those actions that have been scheduled for that day and only those actions, so that you are protected. You can access this week’s calendar HERE.
There are a number of employees who will not be lawfully protected, including non-members and employees who are not CCOs. Whilst non-union members and employees who are not CCOs cannot lawfully take protected action, you are protected by the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) and can at any point cease work if you have a reasonable concern that to carry out the work you would be exposed to a serious risk to your health or safety emanating from an immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard. For example, the most vulnerable and critical interactions with inmates is let go and lock in. If staffing levels are down due to the industrial action that the CCOs are taking, and you feel as though letting out would be unsafe in the circumstances because of inadequate staffing, you can evoke s 84 of the WHS Act to cease unsafe work. The WHS Act applies to everyone, regardless of your classification or whether you are a member of a trade union. In order to cease unsafe work under the WHS Act, you will need to need to fill out a s 84 notice, which you can access HERE. Once you have filled this form out, you should email a copy to the email addresses at the top of the form.
Remember, it is not too late to get involved for those who are not a member of the union. You can join the union and therefore join the fight by signing up HERE.
We will be contactable, day or night, should you need anything or have any questions. You can get in touch by emailing , , or . Alternatively, you can call the CPSU NSW on 1300 772 679.
